Millions of years ago, geological evidence suggests that the cold and dry Red Planet used to be much more blue. Enough water has been collected in pools, lakes and deep oceans to cover the entire planet in an ocean about 100 to 1,500 feet deep. This is approximately equal to half of the Atlantic Ocean.
The question is: what exactly happened to all the water?
While some water can be found frozen in the ice caps of Mars, scientists have previously suggested that the flowing water on Mars would escape into space due to the planet’s low gravity. And though some waters have indeed left Mars so, a new study supported by NASA claims that a large amount of its water is still on the planet, trapped in its crust.
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“Atmospheric escape does not explain the data we have about how much water ever existed on Mars,” said Eva Scheller, lead author of the article published in the journal Science.
How researchers estimate water March
Scheller and his colleagues analyzed data from Mars’ orbits and orbits as well as meteorites to study the amount of water the Red Planet had. in the beginning and how much it lost over time.
One way to do this is by analyzing the hydrogen levels in the atmosphere and rocks of the planet. Water consists of hydrogen and oxygen, but not all hydrogen atoms are equal. Most of them have only one proton in the nucleus of the atom, while the so-called “heavy” hydrogen has an additional neutron.
NASA / JPL
Regular hydrogen has little trouble escaping the gravity of a planet than heavier deuterium. The ratio of deuterium to hydrogen (D / H) in the planet’s atmosphere therefore reflects the loss of Martian water.
“Atmospheric escape has clearly played a role in water loss, but findings from the last decade of Mars missions have shown that there was this vast reservoir of ancient hydrated minerals whose formation certainly reduced the availability of water over time,” he explains. Bethany Ehlmann, professor of planetary science and co-director of the Keck Institute for Space Studies.
When water and rock come together, a process called chemical weathering can occur that contains clay and other water-containing minerals that contain water. as part of their mineral structure.
And although Mars still trapped between 30 percent and 99 percent of its water in the crust, Scheller warns that it will not be easy for future astronauts to extract water for their use.